Mk3 HST coach - what is correct length?

[truckman060473]

If you look at IC125 coaches from the older Hornby range, the outer wheel on the bogie lies approx half way between the toilet window and door window, but recent models (was looking at the newest current livery FGW coaches) seem to have the outer wheel right under the toilet window. I thought that these "extended" type mk3's were used on the IC225 electric trains? I will have to take another look at a real life Class 43 HST as I don't think the coaches are the longer ones are they? well the ones now are indeed the longer ones, just wondering if they have always been this length and if so, why was the original Hornby coach not the correct length?

 

[theblackwatch]

Hornby's short HST coaches date back to the late 1970s, and were produced to this length to go round their 1st radius 'train set' curves. For the first few years, they only had 7 full windows (should have been 8), this was later increased to 8 by making the wondows smaller. Unfortunately, when doing this, they failed to alter the interior seating, so you ended up with a partition showing mid-way in a window.

 

[truckman060473]

so what you're saying is that what Hornby made then, was an Mk2 coach and simply altered the section between the wheels to make it look like a HST coach, and the real life HST has always used the "long" coach since the first train was operational?

 

[mumrar]

HST carriages have always been the Mk3 75ft long design, nothing else (well, except the NMT now uses Mk2s too). Hornby had to make the short ones as a fudge to get around the tight curves of pre-packed trainsets. The tight curves have always put me off 'OO' BTW. I like that they misaligned the seats with the windows, a taste of things to come with airline style seating I suppose.

 

[90019]

(well, except the NMT now uses Mk2s too)

It did have Mk2s, but it hasn't used them for a while, and it's all mk3s now

 

[theblackwatch]

so what you're saying is that what Hornby made then, was an Mk2 coach and simply altered the section between the wheels to make it look like a HST coach, and the real life HST has always used the "long" coach since the first train was operational?

No, Hornby made a Mk 3 that was too short in comparison to the full size one. It was not a bodged Mk 2.

 

[truckman060473]

I have an 8 coach train made up of these "shorter" type Hornby coaches. they have had their couplings modified so the coaches ride with a 1mm gap between them and now i realise they are not the right length coach! oh well, the formation still looks great going round but i would love to put together a proper formation but maybe the longer variants won't take kindly to the close coupling mod. the coaches i have done are ok on 3rd radius or more (eg R628 type curves)